A short life of trouble
In a dark and dusty mine
Has been my occupation
Now I walk the picket line
I was there in Bloody Harlan
When we tried to organize
The miners faced starvation
You could see it in their eyes
The Company hired some gun thugs
Many miners died it's said
They come to kill the union
But they lost their lives instead
Which side are you on boys, which side are you on?
You're either for the rich man, or the union standing strong
I came to Ney York City
In the year of '43
We would fight hitler's armies
In the war across the sea
But they would not hire a miner
To do a workmans job
At 15 cents an hour
Your pockets they will rob
Which side are you on boys, which side are you on?
You're either for the rich man, or the union standing strong
I'll never trust a rich man
As long as i draw breath
To keep his marble mansion
He'll starve a child to death
And when my life is over
Don't mourn my passing long
Organize resistance
And keep the Union strong!
So here's to every miner
Who dared to take a stand
Who lived to feed his family
And died a Union man!
- :
- Original Traditional
- The Game
- Sounds Of Home
- Miscellaneous
- Still Climbing Mountains
- New Country: September 1995
- The Rough Guide to the Music of the Appalachians
- Wondrous Love
- Midnight Storm
- Wind to the West
- Marbletown
- Lonesome Pine
- Choice Picks
- Music of Coal: Mining Songs From the Applachian Coalfields
- Some Day: The Fifteenth Anniversary Collection
- Dark As A Dungeon: Songs Of The Mines
- Rebel Records: 35 Years of The Best in Bluegrass
- Drive-Time Bluegrass
- Celebration of Life: Musicians Against Childhood Cancer
- O Lord How Great Thou Art Volume 2